Today, I checked my thinking
And it made a big difference
Nearly all the time, we believe our thoughts. We have a thought, and we figure it must hold some truth. This is what we tell ourselves. Or what we assume. It’s what we perceive…so we can count on that, right?
The short answer is no. Our thoughts are not always reliable. They are prone to be negative, to see risk, and this makes us uneasy. This is how we are designed: it is our human instinct to be alert for dangers in our environment.
If we are sleepy to dangers, we may not survive genuine risks to life. This is the way humans have been designed; it applied to our ancestors, and it still applies today.
Our thoughts are part of our body’s way of warning us to check for danger…they let us know there could be a problem.
Our thoughts often tell us what we lack or that a problem is huge. They constantly draw our attention to what’s not working in our lives.
They can also offer an explanation for why things are as they are: that we are not good enough, that we don’t belong, that someone has rejected us, that we can’t trust a person, or that a situation cannot be solved.
It’s easy for us to get caught up in repetitive thinking, the same thoughts coming up in a seemingly endless loop. Our thoughts can torture us for hours on end. What do I do? What do I do? We can become anxious or depressed and, sometimes, both.
I know because I have been there.
I trusted my thoughts too much in the past. I assumed the content was true and struggled with that. I didn’t question them.
These days, I realise that many of my thoughts are just a small piece of a much larger picture. In reality, we have many things going well right now. We have strengths and capacities, and dreams that will propel us forward. And we can trust each other. Because we already do trust others, in so many ways, from having food on the table to driving our cars to sleeping safely at night. Our life depends on others.
However, I still get caught up in misleading thinking…I’m human, after all.
Today was an example. Maybe you know this one.
I felt rushed as I prepared to dive into my morning jobs. The podcast I was listening to invited me to stop and relax. My thought was no, I absolutely don’t have time for this.
I moved to fast forward to the ‘meat’ of the podcast. And then I realised that this thought was an obstacle for me. It was JUST in this moment that I needed a little peace. I really did.
I checked in and felt scattered and tense. I had 30 seconds, maybe 60. I DID have some time to relax. So I did stop and relax. I felt 100% better.
Today, let’s remember that believing every thought we have is a trap. Just because we think something doesn’t make it true. It is only something to check.
We can ask ourselves: is it true? How do I know it’s true? Is there a bigger picture here?
Our system wants us to check our thinking, not automatically believe it.
Thoughts are useful much of the time, but they can easily mislead. They can ruin our day, and chunks of our life. Let’s be awake to this.